What's the best Studio Ghibli anime?

[Maciamo]

This is a very difficult question. I'd say Spirited Away, but I haven't seen all of them, so I'll wait to vote. So far I've seen :

- Spirtited Away
- Kiki's delivery service
- Princess Mononoke
- Nausicaa
- Whisper of the heart

...and there are all good. Except for the very emotional final seen, it's Nausicaa I like the least, because the world it depicts is not realistical enough. "Mimi wo sumaseba" (Whisper of the heart) is the most realistic as it doesn't involve magic or supernatural at all. The story is set in Tokyo and everything (houses, trains, shops, landscapes...) is rendered as a perfect copy of the real world (remember the old Chinese adage "demons are easy to draw as they don't exist, but dogs are very difficult as everybody knows what they look like").

The story of Nausica and Princess Mononoke is very similar. As usual with Miyazaki the hero is a young teen female, but who both happen to be princesses in these stories. Both are similar for their liking of the forest and animals seen as dangerous to humans, but which they are ready to give their lives to protect. There is a male hero, which at first is seen as an enemy, but soon becomes a kind of platonic lover. At the end of both movies, Nature defeats humans who wanted to destroy them and only save them thanks to the courage of the hero and heroine.

More info regarding any Studio Ghibli anime can be found on Nausicaa.net

 

[Shadow]

I've seen all of them except Porco Rosso, Pompoko and Howl's moving castle...

I'll cast my vote for Lapata though. It certainly has all the required elements in a short anime: suspense, romance, captivating storyline, and a good soundtrack. I remember watching Lapata over and over again when i was small (around 10 yrs old @ that time).

 

[Maciamo]

I can't really give my childhood impression as I saw only 5 and all of them for the first time in the last 2 months !

 

[Gackt's Twin Fan]

Spirited Away, Caslte in the Sky, and Kiki's Dilervery Servace. I've only seen these three and they're all great^^ Spirited Away is the best so far thought ^^

 

[Ami]

My favorite would be Spirited Away. That movie was the best!

 

[Shinmeiryu]

Princess Mononoke is my choice. Wasn't too big on Kiki's Delivery Service, though Grave of the Fireflies also comes close..

 

[noyhauser]

Hmmm

Is there something I am missing about Spirited?? I can't even see it being in the top 5. I find it uses a lot of themes and ideas present in earlier ghibli films, which weren't as exciting as other movies were.

Maciamo... What is not realistic about Nausicaa, compared to the world of spirited?? It was based upon a religious theme combined with a post apocalyptic setting which I think was amazing in its idea. It combined a way of conceptualizing the world which reminded of native culture, the world itself is a living being, not just for our usage. The corruption and abuse humans did to it caused the earth to anhhilate what was plaguing it, and now humans must learn how to live with the world otherwise they won't survive. None of the other stories had such a deep undercurrent to it. Monoke is the "Only Grave of Fireflies was as profound in my mind.

For pure enjoyment... Porco gets my vote, you gotta love the fight scenes between Porco and curtiss.

 

[Maciamo]

Originally posted by noyhauser

Maciamo... What is not realistic about Nausicaa, compared to the world of spirited?? It was based upon a religious theme combined with a post apocalyptic setting which I think was amazing in its idea.

Of course, you are free to think or feel what you want. Personally, I liked Sen to Chihiro because of the temples, the kimono/yukata, the food, etc. This one is not properly realistic (compared to Whisper of the heart), but it's based on an existing culture. Grahically, I found Nausicaa boring (only desert and swamps) and I don't like these 'mastodonesque' planes that would never fly for real (the same as in Laputa). I simply don't like post-apcalyptic vision of the world or stupid human fighting to destroy each others. So childish. I prefer stories with human interactions or a bit of romance. Nausicaa isn't bad, but it's not my type of stories and neither is really Laputa for the same reason.

I am totally against magi, but at least the world of Mononoke is real, even if huge wolves and boars aren't really.

 

[Shadow]

Originally posted by noyhauser

Is there something I am missing about Spirited?? I can't even see it being in the top 5. I find it uses a lot of themes and ideas present in earlier ghibli films, which weren't as exciting as other movies were.

noyhauser, I can't agree with you more..... Spirited Away; other than the fact that it's the newest Ghibli release, there's nothing special about it.... the concepts are old, the music doesn't stand out, and the artwork is just as good as the other Ghibli films...

I am really curious why it has such a huge fangroup behind it...

 

[Illuminata]

Far and away, my very favorite is Nausicaa. I mean, there is absolutely NO contest in my opinion. It's particularly sentimental to me, as the terrible disney rendition "Warriors of the Wind" was one of my favorite movies as a very young child. Seeing the beautiful original version as an adult totally recaptured the magic for me. The young girl warrior Joan of Arc-archetype is one of my favorite themes in anime, and this one blows anything else in the genre out of the water.

The only one that comes anywhere near Nausicaa is Grave of the Fireflies. Wow. Just... wow. It's not that I dislike Studio Ghibli; in fact, it has to be my favorite production house, it's just that these two are their best, without challenge.

I haven't seen about half of these, so I can only include those I have... but I like everything I've seen, with the exception of Laputa, for some reason. It just didn't strike me well. Who knows.

 

[noyhauser]

Originally posted by Maciamo
Of course, you are free to think or feel what you want. Personally, I liked Sen to Chihiro because of the temples, the kimono/yukata, the food, etc. This one is not properly realistic (compared to Whisper of the heart), but it's based on an existing culture. Grahically, I found Nausicaa boring (only desert and swamps) and I don't like these 'mastodonesque' planes that would never fly for real (the same as in Laputa). I simply don't like post-apcalyptic vision of the world or stupid human fighting to destroy each others. So childish.

Im not going to disagree with you its a matter of tastes, but it was most definately not a "typical" post apocalyptic world. It had none of the same defining features like other post apocalpytic worlds of "its" time (remember Naussicaa was made in 1984), like mad max. None had its so deep nature overtones. From the wind valley to the fugal forests, it was something special in its thoughts. And all the apocalypse itself had nothing to do with the usual human v human warfare (post nuclear era), but nature's v human struggle. I think it was such an interesting metaphor for how we ruin our planet today, and how it is getting even more hostile to us now. And the tradegy of the two empires fighting with each other added to human's folly, only the people of the wind valley understood human's need to live with nature.

 

[Maciamo]

Originally posted by noyhauser
Im not going to disagree with you its a matter of tastes, but it was most definately not a "typical" post apocalyptic world. It had none of the same defining features like other post apocalpytic worlds of "its" time (remember Naussicaa was made in 1984), like mad max.

I don't know if it was good for its time, since I saw all the Ghibli anime I have seen in just a few months this year. So it doesn't make any difference which is older or newer and I can't judge Spirited Away saying that "it has nothing innovative compared to previous ones" since it's the 3rd I saw (after Nausica and Mononoke). From today's point of view, Nuausica isn't probably as good as it was in 1984, like almost any anime or films. When I see old James Bond or films like Blade Runner, I can only feel pity at how pathetic entertainment was at the time. But I didn't feel that way when I was a child and saw them. Movies get old-fashioned quite quickly (for me at least).

 

[HennaSaru]

difficult!
I havenﾂ´t seen them all but for the moment i like Spirited Away and Tonari no Totoro the best.

BTW:
Tonori no Totoro was made 1988 I think and is kicking Disneyﾂ´s butt regarding animation and character design. Thatﾂ´s something I think is fantastic!

 

[Nikorasu]

First film I saw was Spirited Away, it absolutely swept me away and wanted to take part of the adventure, simply loved it and it was my favorite movie...that is untill I saw Mononoke Hime, now that Jiburi movie is totally awesome, I was stunned after watching it and I must say it is my favorite Jiburi movie...

 

[jeisan]

i havent seen them all yet either but i say mononoke hime.
i beleive the reason spirited away is so popular is because it was released in major theaters around the world, so its pluasible many more people have seen verus the other ghibli films. plus i think the other films were kept in japan or maybe got out to other asian theaters, so theyd only be on video in other countries, e.g. only anime fans would see them instead of the rest of the general puplic. i know mononoke was in theaters here in the states as well but i cant say for anywhere else.

 

[Gaki]

I only havent seen three of them (-_-; ) well one of the three hasnt been released yet so that doesnt really count =P

I cant really choose a favorite, they are all so good !!

 

[>*<Hydeist Fuu>*<]

Well...I just LOVE the Ghibli works, but Nausicﾃ､a is the best for me... Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is pretty good, and Mimi wo Sumaseba...aaaw, mega-cute, no da? ^__^ x

 

[Gackt's Twin Fan]

I haven't heard of the other ones.

 

[AutoBot11]

porco rosso, because of the atmosphere

but i like all animes from g. studios

 

[dadio]

I own just about all of 'em on DVD...
& I'd hafta say Totoro... because it is just so sweet & innocent!...
sure, technically it's not up there with the newer Ghibli films...
but it's a really lovely film to watch & think of your childhood... & I love the catchy song too!... Fireflies is *beautiful* & so, so sad...
Mononoke & Spirited Away are technically amazing... & every Ghibli film I've seen is a work of art... but, personally I like Totoro the best!.... aww... it's just so *kawaii!*

 

[X-Japan-FanGrl]

I loved Princess Mononoke

 

[Gackt's Twin Fan]

I haven't seen that one...I want to though... I've only saw Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, and Spirited Away.

 

[jigen]

i guess "spirited away" is the new one w the yuuenchi (the theme park etc)...havent seen that one but i certainly will...so i went for laputa- its just great- the "jules verne" feeling of the "steam" airship technology, the fantasy setting of those old ruins, pirates, deep caves and unbelievable alien technology w that jonathan-swift-feeling, even the music is great- every aspect is just top notch- Tenkuu no Shiro-LAPUTA thats the real thing!

 

[Marc]

I've seen most of them and I'll vote for Ocean Waves (Umi ga Kikoeru). The story is not as captivating as the others, the animation quality is poorer but still is my favorite. It reminds me of my high school ages.

 

[noyhauser]

Marc... I like ocean waves as well... I lost my copy a long time ago, but it was one of my favorite SG movies. I've been looking for another copy, but I can't find one.

Laputa was another one of my favorites, for exactly the same reason as Jigen said.

Its nice to see that people do have discerning tastes.